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During the 1910s, Paul Destine was known as Mentallo, a telepath in a circus. For an unknown reason, Destine was not a con artist, but a real telepath who could read other people's minds. Curious about the origin of his powers, Destine read up on some books about magic and discovered a legendary race, he Ancients, who supposedly had mastered telepathy. Unbeknownst to Destine, the Ancients were a colony of water-breathing Lemurians. [1]

Destine joined an Antarctic expedition on icebreaker Oracle, under Captain Leonard McKenzie in 1920. They found an advanced dynamo that had been built by The Ancients and that was buried in the ice. Destine broke the ice, trying to use the dynamo to increase his own powers but, on doing so, he caused an avalanche. [1]

Destine survived, although injured, and was revived to discover the mystic artifact known as the Serpent Crown (disguised at the time by an outer shell), which had apparently launched near him due to the avalanche. Apparently the Ancients had buried it there. Calling it the Helmet of Power, Destine placed the Helmet on his head. The Helmet healed him and increased his powers, as well as his physical strength and even size. Destine did not return with the expedition and used the Ancients' machines to hibernate while his powers were still growing. [1]

Paul Destine would have found enough fame as a telepath, but the Crown affected his mind so that he then coveted world fame and dominion. He awoke in 1958 calling himself Destiny and began saying things about his destiny being the domination of the world. Thanks to his newly-improved powers, Destine discovered the civilization of water-breathing Atlanteans living under the Antarctic ice. He tested his new powers by causing some earthquakes on their cities. [2]

The Atlantean emperor Thakorr sent his grandson Prince Namor (who incidentally was Leonard McKenzie's son with Atlantean princess Fen) to investigate. Namor fought Destine, but was defeated. Then, Destine took helpless Namor and, using his powers, destroyed the Atlanteans' settlements. As an act of gratuitous sadism, Destine forced Namor to see in his mind images of the catastrophe, including Fen's and Thakorr's deaths (Notice that most of the Atlantean population survived). [2]

Then, Destine used his mind control to force Namor to fly to New York City, and then became an amnesic with a hampered thinking capacity. For years, Namor lived in New York City as a beggar, unaware of his real heritage. After that, Destine returned to his hibernation to increase even more his powers. [2]

When Destine awoke again, Namor had recovered his memories thanks to the actions of superhero Human Torch. Destine and Namor fought again at the Antarctica, a battle during which Namor caused a new avalanche. When Namor was freed from the ice, Destine had ran away. [3][1][2]

Destine then went to the United States and became an independent presidential candidate. Using the Crown, he mind-controlled anyone hearing his speeches. He intended to be the president and then use the military power of the country in a war to conquer all of the planet. However, just before Destine was to begin a TV speech, Namor entered the stage and fought with him. Destine defeated and threw Namor from the roof of a building to the street, but Namor's super-human strength allowed him to survive. Destine could not accept that his sworn foe had survived and became completely nuts. Irrationally, he said he had no need for the helmet and that he could levitate towards a crowd of followers using his own powers. He then jumped from the roof and fell to his death. [4]